Thursday, July 9, 2009

Durham Bulls Lose 7-6 To Gwinnett Braves

The Bulls squander a three-run lead thanks to a four-run inning from Gwinnett in the seventh as Durham lost 7-6 Wednesday night at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

Durham got on the scoreboard first in the bottom half of the first inning. A Matt Joyce single scored both Henry Mateo and Reid Brignac. That was followed by a Chris Richard single which scored Joyce putting the Bulls ahead 3-0.

Gwinnett answered back in the top of the third with two runs of its own. A sacrifice fly from Kelly Johnson scored Antonia Perez from third. That was followed by a Elliot Johnson fielding error on a Barbaro Canizares grounder which allowed Reid Gorecki to score cutting Durham’s lead to 3-2.

The Bulls plated two more runs in their half of the third. With the bases loaded, John Jaso laced a single up the middle scoring two and increasing the Bulls’ lead to 5-2.

Durham’s lead vanished in the seventh after Jason Childers came in relief for starting pitcher Jason Cromer with two runners on and no outs. A groundout from Gorecki scored the first run of the inning. Then an error by Rhyne Hughes for what would have been the second out of the inning allowed Wes Timmons to reach first while Perez scored form third. The very next batter, Kelly Johnson, took Childers deep for a two-run homer, as Durham lost its lead 6-5 to Gwinnett.

Each team exchanged runs in the ninth with Gwinnet coming out on top 7-6 for the final score. The Braves’ Mariano Gomez (6-2) picked up the win after four innings of relief, in which he allowed three hits with one walk and four strikeouts.

Childers (6-3) took the loss after pitching the seventh and allowing both inherited runners to score. He was charged with two runs, one earned, while giving up two hits including the homerun from Johnson.

The Bulls look to clinch their three game series with Gwinnett tomorrow with a win. Righty Matt DeSalvo (0-2) will take the mound for Durham with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m.